Another Day, Another Dem Debate (But No Dollars)

6:03–It looks like a Bernie crowd, he got slightly more enthusiastic applause than she did.

6:06–Bernie’s opening speech is seemingly endless. He’s talked for several minutes straight. Might wear himself out by the end of this. He talked too long in his New Hampshire acceptance speech as well. This may eventually backfire on him.

6:07–Hillary is wearing a bright yellow jacket buttoned all the way to the top. I can only imagine the “Hillary is a puppet of China!” paranoid rantings conservatives and Bernie bros are indulging in right now.

6:08–Damn, a commercial on PBS? Oh, I’m sorry it’s a “PBS Newshour” update complete a list of who’s sponsoring the debate. Not a commercial…although I’m sure before the end of this there will be at least 5 “gently asking” of donations.

6:10–It’ll be interesting to see how PBS affects the tone of this debate. It is the sleepiest network on prime-time and they probably won’t encourage the type of carnival-barking Faux News Business Bass Fishing Network or whatever the hell…

6:11–PBS drinking game: Everytime Bernie says “the rich is getting rich,” take a shot. Everytime he brings up Hillary’s Iraq Vote, take two. It’ll be the most fun you’ve ever had watching PBS.

6:12–They have to re-ask Bernie the question of how big government would be under him.

6:13–If Bernie won’t answer it, Hillary will, and does.

6:15–I could have been wrong, the crowd seems to like Hillary. We’ll see…

6:15–Bernie says he won’t get rid of Obamacare, and that that is a slander from Hillary…yet he seems to hate it.

6:16–“There’s one major country that doesn’t guarantee healthcare”–We heard you the first time. He’ll say this a couple more before it’s over.

6:17–What Bernie never talks about is how his own state didn’t pass universal healthcare, because they couldn’t get the support for the price controls. And you have to put in price controls to make it work.

6:21–Bernie says “Secretary Clinton you’re not in the White House yet” to mild boos. The way he said it made it seem like it was his goal to keep her from the White House.

6:24–Hillary mentions not only congress, but state legislatures. Finally, the talk that we all know which is that state legislatures have to approve any college funding package, and some states already have free in-state tuition.

6:25–A state like Georgia uses the lottery to fund free tuition for students who have a B average or higher. So his proposals are mostly in states that wouldn’t go for them anyway.

6:27–They ask Bernie if he feels like he’s standing in the way of history and the first woman president. He basically says that he’d make history too…as the oldest first-term president in history.

6:30–They ask about criminal justice system’s racial inequalities. Bernie is talking about this like he gives two shits about it. Just look at yesterday’s “How to Talk to Black Women” conference his supporters threw. I’m not kidding…

6:31–Bernie’s fans “How can ‘blacks’ vote for Hillary?” Maybe because you’ve talked to so few, you have to be taught how.

6:32–The fact that Bernie’s fans have to be taught how to talk to black people–about a senator from a state that’s 94% white and he doesn’t like Obama–shows how serious they are about racial equality issues.

6:36–Bernie is so desperate to look sympatico with Obama on these issues, he’s just parroting whatever Hillary says. She’s giving much more nuanced answers on black policing and racial discrimination while he’s basically just sticking to rah-rah talking points.

6:39–Bernie says he’d be better for minority voters. Sure, because why wouldn’t a senator from Vermont know their needs better than the first black president…

6:42–Bernie knows he’s heading into states with actual black people in them, so he’s trying to appear like he’s not a thorn in Obama’s side.

6:45–Now he’s saying he’d be better on the issue of deportations than Obama. He may very well be, but even when he’s pretending to like Obama he can’t help dissing him.

6:50–This is the most in-depth debate they’ve had about racial issues. Now that we’re headed to states with actual minorities in them. “How novel!”–New Hampshire

6:51–Bernie asked about immigration and why he won’t vote for any immigration reform bills. He says it’s because he’s trying to protect immigrants…Don’t you see people? Trump should try this logic.

6:54–Now we’re back on income issues, Bernie seems relieved.

6:56–I’m not sure how Sanders fans think they can win with a candidate who solely talks about economic issues, and is weak on race, justice department, foreign policy, etc. And all the things Sanders is weak on are things the president actually has control over.

6:58–They’re asking about Hillary’s big donors. She answers “You can’t co-ordinate with Super-PACs so I don’t know that that’s accurate.” Exactly. Nobody has a Super-PAC, Bernie saying different is false. There is a Chinese wall between the PACs and campaigns, so nobody can control their PAC or “own” one.

7:00–“I don’t have a Super-PAC.” NOBODY does. What Sanders does have is exactly what all other politicians have which are PACs that support him.

7:03–“Let’s not insult the intelligence of the American people.” You first.

7:08–And now a commercial break…that’s just a clip reel of what’s already happened on the debate so far? These guys can’t wait until the debate is over to re-cap?

7:13–They’re even doing the typical post-debate analysis during this (don’t-call-it-a…) commercial break.

7:15–We’re back…are you sure you don’t want to advertise some debate t-shirts we could buy PBS?

7:20–I just don’t get why they won’t point out basic campaign finance laws to Bernie during these debates. His fans honestly think negative ads against Hillary in Iowa just fell from the sky.

7:24–Bernie is attacking Hillary for being friendly to Henry Kissinger.

7:28–Hillary has a terrific response to this saying the world is complicated, and you take advice from anyone. She’s basically alluding to Bernie’s immature “pureness.”

7:28–She says “we’ve yet to find out who your foreign policy advisors are.” Because he doesn’t have any.

7:30–Bernie explains who Henry Kissinger is to his audience. This is a mistake to get bogged down in this. If people don’t remember the Clinton years, then they don’t remember who Kissinger is.

7:32–Bernie’s foreign policy ignorance should be alarming to his fans, because they make his plans even less likely. You can’t take the “global” out of a globalized economy.

7:35–Fun fact: Bernie has NO foreign policy advisors. The man largely in charge of his foreign policy has no real foreign policy experience, and was just given that job because somebody needed to fill it.

7:39–The irony is that Bernie talks non-stop about domestic money agenda but president has much more control over foreign policy, justice department, racial issues, etc. stuff he’s weak on.

7:42–They ask Bernie what are two people you would take foreign policy advise from? And he’s talking about FDR and the New Deal era! Yikes!!!!

7:45–Hillary calls out Bernie for talking crap about Obama. She says she would expect the things he’s been saying more from Republicans, not someone running for the Democratic nomination.

7:46–Bernie says it’s a low-blow…his own words are?

7:48–Bernie says “only one of us ran against Obama, not me.” He openly called for a primary challenger in 2012, and wanted someone to run against him. He probably would have if it wasn’t political suicide.

7:49–Plus, if President Obama held it against Hillary, why did he hire her for Secretary of State and why is he backing her now?

7:50–I hope that last misleading comment costs him.

7:51–Closing statements show that Bernie is focusing a little more on economic issues solely, and Hillary is trying to encompass a socially liberal angle as well.

Annnnnnd so ends another riveting debate between the man who won’t drop out and the woman who’s forced to keep arguing with him…It’s been really great for the Democratic Party. Which is perhaps why Hillary has 99% of congressional endorsements and is all but endorsed by Obama himself.

One thought on “Another Day, Another Dem Debate (But No Dollars)”

Why any democrat would think Hillary is not the best candidate is beyond me. I can bet you that republican superpacks are the ones donating the money to Bernie. They should audit Bernie sanders donors ??